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Adam Silver has been making good changes over the last years, but he still hasn't fixed the ref issue. Refs need to understand we didn't come to watch them. They're supposed to be unnoticable, that's how a good ref does his job. When players and viewers remember a ref's name, that means he has a reputation and that's rarely good.

Hard to watch this shit. League is so soft.

I know everyone thinks this is stupid but it's been a rule forever that you can't taunt the player, you can gesture to the crowd. It's unsportsmanlike conduct and it's mostly designed to stop players from fighting. I'm not even a fan of the 'too small' gesture since it's more of an insult than a celebration.

Yeah it's entertaining, but i'd rather not have games regularly break into brawls and having players ejected/suspended for fighting

This is where we learn that the ref is actually a distant member of the antetokounmpo family 200 years into the future and he went back in time to stop Giannis who originally goes on to break his neck falling down awkwardly becoming a quadrapeligic in the 4th quarter of this game. Good guy ref honestly.

This is the best call of the year, hands down. I love it when superstar players get treated like everyone else and the rules are applied correctly. You can see one of the Pistons players make the technical motion even before the ref, it was that obvious. Deliberate prolonged provocation of an opposing player when you've already got one technical is just astronomically stupid and he did it anyway. But people don't want to see Giannis get ejected so they say it's soft and rigged, etc.

So far this year the refs been completely ass. Taking over games and calling way too many fouls across the board.

He should have done what Jalen Brown did the other night and just awkwardly mean mug towards no one in particular after the dunk /s

And the nfl thinks they are the no fun league. This is the definition of no fun

In the same night, Joel taunts the entire boston celtic bench after a shot and doesn't get a T. It's such bullshit.

SOFT

They say they wanna bring more fans to NBA, but look at this shit

Year after year we get terrible officiating like this (relatively consistently too) and nothing seems to change. What an awful call

Vegas must of called in they placed a huge amount on the pistons or a small spread

The fuck is the point of the replay center if it can't help with shit like this. So easy to just implement a system of checks and balances especially when considering ejecting a player.

Just have some guys review the play in the center and they also have to confirm that it was worthy of an ejection. Two point check system. Boom. Done. Ref has to swallow his pride at that point and move on.

Looks like Milwaukee was going to cover the spread. 🙄 If the NBA would get it’s officials in check the league would become much more popular.

Who let Joe West into the NBA!?!?

The NBA has been this soft for 5-6 years now.

Bad refs hurt the game

I'm guessing the ref's argument is that Giannis took a step toward Stewart?

The only real way to bring about change is to stop consuming the product

This is literally what kills the game.

While draymond tries everything to get the 2nd tech and not achieve

Did a SINGLE fan want there to be rules against taunting?? What the fuck dude

Loser taking a selfie when giannis sits down instead of just enjoying it

Russell Westbrook better watch his back he’s on his way out of the league if this starts getting thrown out as a tech

Ref using PrizePicks and Giannis was about to ruin his 6 pick slip. Fire all refs and let toddlers make the calls. This shit ridiculous

He wasn't ejected for this. It was his second tech. The first was in the 2nd quarter for abusing the ref.

No wonder the league is soft the refs are contributors too

What a joke

That was a horrible ejection. Soft ass ref needs to be retrained.

If the NBA has nee rules and fines related to resting their stars then this weak ass bullshit needs to stop!

People paid hundreds to come see Giannis ball for him to be ejected for that.

I'd be livid. Maybe submit a BBB complaint about the NBA for this bullshit. When fans money are involved this can't stand.

Damn yeah that looked like bs

funny and cute seeing the reaction of the fans but also weird as hell when people instantly take out their phone to record a once in a life time event instead of just enjoying it and engaging with the moment

esp when the particular event is being recorded and broadcasted

like the guy didn't even look at giannis? just whipped out his phone and took an obtrusive selfie? what? stop

This will be reviewed by the NBA and get the technical foul reversed and the ref fined, right? ....right?

Honestly one of these days I just want a player to beat the shit out of a ref. It’d be cool and justified

Gotta keep the small markets in their place! /S

Mean mugging? Fucking trash ref should be fired.

This is so fucking dumb. Refa want players to just dunk and be stoic about it i guess. I, and I think most fans, love when players show emotions like Giannis did here. It gets you hyped up

Shit. Kudos for Giannis for taking the seat. Made the refs look even more idiotic. Silver needs to relegate these refs to the G league. How do you eject the biggest star for dunking it too aggressively. That is why people come to watch.

This is complete BS. Refs out of pocket this year.

I see this is a very unpopular opinion, and I love watching Giannis, but I don't have a problem with the technical called here.

I get it sucks that he already had a technical, so it triggered an ejection, but Giannis clearly does the following:

1. He changes direction and takes 2 steps towards Stewart to get in his face after the dunk.

2. As he's walking away, he also makes the "too small" gesture.

What is your definition of taunting if you can do this after every single basketball play?

People will complain about the fans, especially young ones, who paid money to go to the game, but am I the only one who finds it so cringey every time a young 8-year old basketball player taunts their opponent after every basket because they think it looks cool. Do we really want young fans "mean mugging" their opponents in their own youth games?

I get celebrating a basket, but to me, the getting in a player's face crosses the line. I also don't have a problem with holding players accountable when they cross that line.

With all that said, I also understand that the refs are very inconsistent in calling these taunting violations. I feel like the NBA needs to just state their policy of what is and isn't allowed, and then follow that code of conduct. To me, what Giannis does here ventures into what shouldn't be allowed, so that's why I'm ok with the ejection. I'm sure you can point at 100+ other instances of players doing similar without being called though, and, to that, I'd say they also should have been assessed a technical.

Ref must have had a lot of money riding on this game.

Im not a Bucks fan and I got pissed over that BS.

Refs are ruining the game

Imagine paying a fuck load of money to see your favourite player and he gets ejected for playing the game

The refs should be fired and replaced with ai bots

Maybe there's an unsaid rule where if you come even close to provoking Beef Stew, then it's an automatic T. That guy can go off and ain't no stopping him.

Def needs a little forced time off for that one. People pay good money to watch that man play.

So fucking soft smh crazy how people still pay to watch this horrendous product. I am a huge basketball fan for like 20 years or so, still, regardless of my passion for the sport and lack of options (the NBA is literally the only professional league in the planet who invests legit money), still, it's rough to watch... I wonder if casual fans enjoy this crap